Beyond Google Scholar & SouthernSearch: Diving Deeper Into Your Research

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Amy Jansen

Business Research Librarian

May 2025

Session Roadmap

1. Exploring Specialized Databases

Table: Choosing the Right Database: A Comparison

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Finding the Right Database(s)

Specialized Databases

Examples:

• Sociology – SocIndex
• Education – ERIC
• Psychology – PsycInfo
• Business – ABI Inform Complete
• Biology – Biological Sciences Collection
• Marriage & Family Therapy – Family Studies Abstracts
• And Many More

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2. Mastering Advanced Searching

• Goal
• Benefits
• Applies across platforms (specific syntax may vary between databases)

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Specific techniques:

• Phrase searching
• Truncation
• Wildcards
• Boolean operators
• Proximity operators
• Field Searching

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Advanced Searching Techniques

• Phrase Searching: "climate change" - Searches the exact phrase
• Truncation: educat* - Finds educate, education, educational, etc. (use *, ?, ! depending on database)
• Wildcards: wom?n - Finds woman, women (replaces one character)
• Boolean Operators: (Usually UPPERCASE)
• AND: Narrows results (all terms must be present).
• OR: Broadens results (any term can be present; use () for grouping: (teenager OR adolescent)).
• NOT: Excludes terms (use with caution).
• Proximity Operators: tax N5 reform - Finds terms near each other (syntax varies: N#, W#)
• Field Searching: TI(term) or AU(author) - Searches specific fields (Title, Author, Abstract, Subject) for high relevance
• Most databases have a “Search Help” feature like this one in JSTOR, which outline the specific syntax used in that database
• JSTOR Search Help: Resources & Overview: https://support.jstor.org/hc/en-us/articles/115004701828-Search-Help-Resources-Overview

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SocIndex: Sample Search

Negative impacts of social media use on the mental health of adolescents in Western societies. Empirical studies published in the last 5 years.

• Keywords: social media mental health adolescents
• First attempt: “social media” and “mental health” and adolescents
• Refining: “Social media” and (“mental health” or ”well-being”) and (adolescen* or teen* or “young adult*”)
• Add proximity operator: "social media" AND (mental health Oor well-being) AND (adolescen* or teen* or "young adult*") AND (negative N3 impact*)
• Can add field searching for controlled vocabulary (AB - abstract, SU – subject terms, GE – geographic terms, KW – author supplied keywords, etc.)
• Highlighted terms are indexed subject terms in SocIndex

3. Navigating Grey Literature

Identifying Key Types & Finding Grey Lit

• Common types
• Examples: government or NGO reports, policy briefs, white papers, conference proceedings, theses, dissertations, working papers

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• Finding strategies
• Specialized databases often index grey lit
• Business databases like IBISWorld or Statista (industry and/or market research reports)
• Google Scholar, ERIC, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
• RePec (economics’ literature)
• Gov’t agencies
• Organization websites
• Think tanks/research groups
• SCSU’s Author database would be considered grey literature: find it on our A-Z database list

Evaluating Grey Literature

4. Finding Other Key Resources

Preprint server, arXiv (physics, math, computer science, and more)

• Link can be found on library’s A-Z database list
• Let’s try: “network security” and “intrusion detection”
• Advanced search tips: https://arxiv.org/search/advanced?terms-0-term=Network+Security+and+Intrusion+Detection&terms-0-field=all&size=50&order=-announced_date_first
• You’ll find the full text documents in brackets
• From the item record, you can see an abstract, and identify who submitted the paper and the date of submission
• Links to the item in Google Scholar and Semantic Scholar are often available

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5. Using AI Research Tools

• Where to start?
• Library guide: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools and Research
• For research:
• Sematic Scholar
• Elicit
• Research Rabbit
• For help with summarizing:
• ChatPDF
• Scholarcy
• Writing & proofreading help:
• Grammarly
• Trinka
• Chat bots like ChatGPT or Gemini (be careful what you upload here, Grammarly and Trinka protect your data privacy to some extent, but many others do not)

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Common Concerns about AI Tools

• Privacy & security
• Academic integrity & plagiarism
• Bias & fairness
• Transparency & explainability
• Overreliance & deskilling
• Accuracy & misinformation
• Ethical use & responsibility

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6. Tapping Research Partners

• What can librarians, particular subject specialists, help with?
• Find the best databases and resources
• Develop sophisticated search strategies
• Locate harder to find grey lit or primary sources
• Help you navigate data repositories, citation management, and more.
• Schedule a One-on-One Research Session with a librarian: https://libguides.southernct.edu/form1on1
• Explore research guides in your subject area created by librarians
• Buley Library Research Guides in 47 Subject areas: https://libguides.southernct.edu/guides

Q & A and Discussion